My day as a zoo keeper!

Today I got to spend the day working as a zoo keeper... well not exactly, but I did shadow one! They had me doing everything from feeding sick koalas to cleaning up wombat poop!

My day in Brisbane started with an early taxi ride to The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where I was quickly introduced to the 'ins and outs' of zoo keeping.

I started off with the macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) where we had to interrupt a few roos for breakfast!

A very friendly emu came by to have a snack for herself - she was super cuddly and enjoyed her long neck being hugged... so cute.

There have been a number of different kangaroo species that I have had the opportunity to observe during my travels in Australia and today I met my first swamp kangaroo! Kind of reminds me of a raccoon.

Next I made my way to the zoo hospital where they employ a full time veterinarian to care for the many ill animals. I was lucky enough to visit on a day where two baby dingos had just arrived.

They had yet to be vaccinated and because I had recently been in contact with dogs, I wasn't able to cuddle them:( It was enough just to see them though!

 Next we got a feed some koalas a special paste filled with supplements. Considering they are such picky eaters and limit their diet to eucalyptus, they sure enjoyed the medicine!

My favorite part of the day had to be bringing Smiggins, the alpine dingo, for a walk! Naturally a dingo photo shoot took place.

Walking Smiggins looked and felt very similar to walking my own dog - it was great! Dingos have evolved from wolves and unlike dogs, do not bark - only howl!  

My next task as a true zoo keeper involved some manual labor. Each day the koalas home is cleared of old and used eucalyptus and they are supplied a fresh batch - they are quite spoiled really! It took about a half hour to tear down and set back up, but seeing how happy they were to see fresh food was so so worth it!

The Lone Pine Sancturary holds a Guinness record for having the world's oldest Koala, Sarah, who died in 2001 at 23 years old! Can you spot this koala's baby Joey?

When the Joey is old enough to leave the mother's pouch it will ride on her back, like this!

Later Nick introduced me to Eric the olive python! I'm still not a fan of snakes, but luckily I've improved from running away to cautiously observing from a distance.

I finished off my day as a zoo keeper with a Birds of Prey presentation which featured the snow owls you may recognize from the Harry Potter series.

I am now finishing off my trip in Sydney and was treated to a delicious dinner by one of my trip coordinators, Virginia. We dined at a very exclusive restaurant, Billy Kwong, and I tried Australian pumpkin - which isn't limited to the Thanksgiving holidays here! 

I can't believe this is all ending, back to Canada on Sunday!